President K. Soma Sundram said the 2,213sq ft office space located on the fifth floor of a building at the 3 Two Square commercial hub in section 19 of Petaling Jaya, Selangor, was bought for RM695,000 with savings and contributions from its members and well wishers.

These include RM125,000 raised from the Malaysian real estate convention last year, RM218,000 from members, contributions of RM100,000 from OCBC Bank (M) Bhd and RM50,000 from American International Assurance Bhd, and donations of RM18,000 by David Ong of Reapfield Properties Sdn Bhd, RM15,000 from O&L Real Estate, and many others.

He said the office premises, which incurred renovation costs of RM120,000, is currently estimated to be worth close to RM1 million.

According to him, MIEA had the idea of having its own premises since the eighties but it was aborted due to recession and the fact it had just a little over RM60,000 then until 1991, when Datuk Leslie Lee Kim Guan of New Bob Realty Sdn Bhd initiated a building fund with an initial contribution of RM500.

And the rest, like they say, is history.

With its own premises, he said MIEA can now conduct training sessions for real estate negotiators as well as carry out research and development and other activities in a more conducive environment.

He added MIEA plans to introduce an examination programme for negotiators who want to enter the real estate selling profession, in a move to reduce the number of illegal ones.

It also intends to have a “black book for bad tenants” to weed out those who abuse the law by not paying rent as well as.

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The development, due for completion in 2012, comprises two 38-storey residential towers known as Iskandar Residences and a 28-storey serviced apartment known as Oakwood Residence Johor operated by Oakwood Asia Pacific Ltd.

The project was unveiled by IIB through its subsidiary Kota Selat Tebrau Sdn Bhd, in a joint venture with Danga Bay Sdn Bhd.

Oakwood Residence Johor is positioned to cater to short and extended stays for execu­tives from multinational corporations and expatriates relocating to Johor Baru due to its strate­gic location and luxury branding.

“As the catalytic developer for Iskandar Malaysia, we hope the unveiling of this development will attract international property investors, expatriates and young and trendy professionals in the locality.

“It is a great achievement and we hope to provide our prospective investors with more investment opportunities in the coming months,” IIB managing director Arlida Ariff said during the second Iskandar Malaysia Information Day here recently,

When completed, the project will be an icon in Iskandar Malaysia offering residents and tourists with convenient modern city living, an urban waterfront resort lifestyle and expand the variety of accommodation available for holidaymakers to Johor.

“We are happy to showcase this project and are confident it will help bring an international community to Iskandar Malaysia and build the region as Asia’s first world city,” Kota Selat Tebrau chief executive officer Datuk Lim Kang Hoo said.

To date, IIB has attracted RM4.2bil in investments from Middle Eastern partners for the development of Medini, its integrated hub in Iskandar Malaysia.

To date, Iskandar Malaysia has garnered RM40.25bil in investments

Waterfront developments in Danga Bay unveiled

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EU ambassador Vincent Piket said the Forest Law Enforcement Gover- nance and Trade Voluntary Part- nership Agreement (VPA) would essentially assure EU member countries that Malaysian timber products were sourced legally.

He said Malaysia was set to become the first country in Asia to work such a trade deal that would give the country a comparative advantage.

“Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin realises the benefits of the VPA for the Malaysian timber sector,” said Piket after meeting timber industry officials here yesterday.

Malaysia’s timber exports to the EU amount to some RM2.5bil annually and Sabah’s share is about 20% to 25%.

Piket said negotiations were now focused on Malaysia’s legality assessment on how its timber is produced.

“The system is good but there are still improvements to be made,” he said.

Citing an example, he said that when a forest plantation licence was granted, environmental issues needed to be addressed such as the need for an environmental impact assessment.

“Transparency is the key word in such matters,” Piket said.

Malaysian timber set to get easy access into EU